Apollo (əpŏl`ō), in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian gods, concerned especially with prophecy, medicine, music and poetry, archery, and various bucolic arts, particularly the care of flocks and herds. He was also frequently associated with the higher developments of civilization, such as law, philosophy, and the arts. As patron of music and poetry he was often connected with the Muses. Apollo may have been first worshiped by primitive shepherds as a god of pastures and flocks, but it was as a god of light, Phoebus or Phoebus Apollo, that he was most widely known. After the 5th cent. B.C. he was frequently identified with Helios, the sun god. Apollo was the father of Aristaeus, Asclepius, and, in some legends, Orpheus, although his amorous affairs were not particularly successful. Daphne turned into a laurel rather than submit to him, and Marpessa refused him in favor of a mortal. He gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy, and when she disappointed him, he decreed that no one would believe her prophecies. His chief oracular shrine was at Delphi, which he was said to have seized, while still an infant, by killing its guardian, the serpent Python. This event was celebrated every eight years in the festival of the Stepteria. Other festivals held in Apollo's honor included the yearly Thargelia, to celebrate spring, and the Pythia, held every four years to honor his victory over the Python. Besides Delphi, his other notable shrines were at Branchidae, Claros, Patara, and on the island of Delos, where, it was said, he and his twin sister, Artemis, were born to Leto and Zeus. In Roman religion, Apollo was worshiped in various forms, most significantly as a god of healing and of prophecy. In art he was portrayed as the perfection of youth and beauty. The most celebrated statue of him is the
Most widely revered of the Greek gods. He communicated the will of his father Zeus, made humans aware of their guilt and purified them of it, presided over religious and civil law, and foretold the future. His bow symbolized distance, death, terror, and awe; his lyre symbolized music, poetry, and dance. As a patron of the arts, he was often associated with the Muses. He was also a god of crops and herds. He became associated with the sun, and was even identified with Helios, the sun god. Also associated with healing, he was the father of Asclepius. By tradition, Apollo and his twin, Artemis, were born at Delos to Leto. Apollo's oracle was established at Delphi; the Pythian Games commemorated his killing (while still an infant) of the serpent Python to take the shrine. His many lovers fared poorly: the fleeing Daphne became a laurel tree; the unfaithful Coronis was shot by Artemis, and Cassandra, who rejected him, was doomed to utter true prophecies no one would believe.
NASA manned Moon-landing project of the 1960s and '70s. The Apollo spacecraft, supplied with their own low-powered rockets, could brake on approach to the Moon and go into lunar orbit. They also could release part of the spacecraft, the lunar module, with its own rocket power, to land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back to the lunar orbiter. In July 1969 Apollo 11 made the first lunar landing (see Edwin Aldrin; Neil Armstrong). In 1970 Apollo 13 was damaged by an explosion in an oxygen tank but returned safely to Earth. Later Apollo missions explored the lunar surface extensively, collecting samples of Moon rocks and installing instruments for research. Apollo 17, the program's final lunar flight, took place in 1972. In total, 12 American astronauts walked on the Moon during six successful lunar-landing missions.
Apollo
Apollo [ə′päl·ō]
Apollo Belvedere, a marble statue in the Belvedere of the Vatican.
Apollo
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Apollo Belvedere, restored Roman copy of the Greek original attributed to Leochares, 4th century …
(credit: Alinari—Art Resource/EB Inc.)
Apollo
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Apollo 15 spacecraft as it lifts off from Cape Kennedy, Florida, U.S., atop a Saturn V three-stage …
(credit: NASA)
Apollo
(1) The code name for a cross-platform development system from Adobe for rich Web-based applications written in familiar languages. In beta in 2007, Apollo programmers can use any combination of Flash, HTML, ActionScript, JavaScript or AJAX to write programs that run in a Windows or Mac computer with an Apollo runtime engine. For more information, visit http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/apollo. See Flex, Flash, HTML, ActionScript, JavaScript and AJAX.
(2) An earlier manufacturer of high-performance workstations, founded in 1980. Pioneering the concept of tying workstations together across a network, Apollo became a division of HP in 1989.
Apollo
Classical myth the god of light, poetry, music, healing, and prophecy: son of Zeus and Leto
Apollo [ə′päl·ō]
(astronomy)
To the Greeks, the planet Mercury when it was a morning star.
An asteroid with a very eccentric orbit and perihelion inside the orbit of Venus that passed about 1.8 × 106miles (3 × 106kilometers) from earth in 1932.
Apollo
god of manly beauty. [Gk. Myth.: Leach, 67]
See : Beauty, Masculine
Apollo
god of light. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 28]
See : Light
Apollo
(Phoebus) patron of medicine. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 28]
See : Medicine
Apollo
god of music and fine arts. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 26]
See : Music
Apollo
sun god; his chariot ride spanned morning to night. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 42]
See : Sun
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